Angels in Everything
by TheSoggyBug
Summary: After a year living together in New Rome, Percy and Annabeth are adjusting to what people would call a "normal life" fairly well. Percy's still Percy, though, and he makes mistakes. When they come at a shocking fork in the road, they must decide which way to go for the sake of their future. Despite Annabeth's reservation, they prepare themselves for a new life. Percy/Annabeth
1. Chapter 1

_Hi guys! Just saying, this may or may not be a oneshot, ok? I might add on later, but whatevs._

_Please enjoy! And I don't own anything, btw. _

**oOo**

That day was happening as any day would in the bustling city of New Rome.

Percy was heading back to his apartment from his job, thinking about everything that he was pleased about: his little city, his work, his future, and Annabeth. He passed vendors selling fresh peaches and hot chocolate and handmade scarves. He passed cafés that smelled like waffles and happiness, and buildings that were hodgepodges of Roman architecture and modern villas. It was, in a way, their own little piece of Olympus on Earth.

The small apartments Percy and Annabeth were staying at were just a quarter mile from his work, but even in that small stretch there was almost too much to see. After nearly a year living there, Percy still wasn't used to all the sights. He didn't know how Annabeth managed not to spend every second of her day wandering the streets.

He smiled to himself; thinking of her made his stomach feel as warm and fuzzy.

When he finally got back, Percy squeezed up the staircase and through the communal hallway (which smelled of the strange combination of cinnamon buns and air freshener) and unlocked his door.

The apartment was quiet and tidy, as well as small, but had one of the best views New Rome offered; peaks of the northern hilltops lifted and sank over the rooftops, and the Coliseum glowed with its constant flickering lights to the northeast. Every color of the city billowed in the wind, spread before them like a picnic blanket.

"I'm home," Percy called out, dropping his bag off at the foot of the couch. "Hello? Annabeth?"

He peered around the arched doorway of the kitchen, and when he still didn't see her, he made his way down the little hallway to their bedroom. As he did most days, Percy found Annabeth sitting at her desk, too immersed in her latest project to realize he was home.

"I'm home," he repeated.

Annabeth gave a start and turned her head to the side.

Percy was shocked to see her expression was unlike any she normally wore; her eyes were as wide as saucers, as if she'd just seen a ghost, but her whole face was glazed over. She wasn't even looking at Percy, just the wall to his left.

Percy hesitated going in any further. "…Are you okay?"

It took several seconds for Annabeth to react, and when she did, even her voice was distracted. "Yeah…yeah, I'm fine. Welcome home." She turned her head back to face the paper in front of her, but Percy only just saw that it was completely blank. She wasn't even writing on it.

"Okay, well I rented a movie. Do you want to watch it with me?"

"I'm good. I have a lot of work to do."

Although he wanted to mention that we paper was completely blank, Percy knew better than that. He took a half step from the room. "…You know that you can tell me if anything's on your mind, right?"

Annabeth put her palms to her forehead, but didn't take her eyes away from the paper. "Yeah. I know. I will."

Silence followed.

"Okay, then. I'll be in the living room if you need me." Percy took another step out. "I love you."

Annabeth didn't even give any hint that she even heard him.

"Right, then…"

The movie Percy had rented was just the kind he liked: lots of action, irony and too many plot twists to keep track of, but he couldn't concentrate. He knew something was wrong; he'd known Annabeth for seven years. No change in her mood slipped by him, and she was _definitely_ acting weird. If the glazed deer-in-the-headlights expression didn't give her away, the fixation on a blank piece of paper would. It was a clear sign that something else was on her mind.

As the end credits rolled, Percy couldn't stand it. He turned the TV off, grabbed something from his bag next to the couch, and went back into the bedroom. As he expected, Annabeth was in the exact same position, except that time, the paper wasn't blank.

Percy meandered over to the desk and peered over his wife's shoulder.

_June 29__th__,_ the first line read, but before he could read any more, the paper was whisked away.

"Don't read my stuff," Annabeth scolded sharply, glaring at Percy from over her shoulder as she stood up. Her expression was back to normal, stern but calm, as though nothing had happened before.

She seemed more normal now, thought Percy, but he didn't say anything about that. "I have a surprise for you," he said, reaching into his pocket.

"So do I."

Percy narrowed his eyes at Annabeth, trying to decipher her look on her face. "…Did you design something awesome that you want me to see?"

She shook her head, but her teeth were gritting visibly, like she internally scolding herself for mentioning anything at all.

"Did your mom visit you?" Immediately, the possibility made Percy nervous. Sure, Athena was an all-powerful goddess to be worshipped and respected, but _man_; she really scared him sometimes. She didn't kill him at his and Annabeth's wedding, but that didn't stop him from staying on his toes.

"No," Annabeth replied after hesitating only a second. "No, I haven't heard anything from her in a while."

"Did you fail your exams?"

"I haven't taken them yet."

"Did you discover you had three extra toes?"

"I only have ten toes."

"Are the others coming to visit?"

Percy hoped that one was true. After the war with Gaea was over, the group of demigods split up. Frank and Hazel were still happy members of the Legion (even though Reyna and Frank agreed the demigods of the quest who decided to stay were granted a reprieve instead of having to serve the required ten years before being allowed to retire to New Rome). They were obviously one of the most-loved (and most famous) couples in all of Camp Jupiter.

Jason and Piper went back to Camp Half-Blood, and though they fight and break up every few months, the both of them claim they're getting married eventually.

Leo went back to Camp, too, and from his occasional Iris-Messages, it sounds like he is having the best time he's ever had with Calypso there. He never gave details, but they were intent on building some sort of garage together once Leo turns 18 and leaves Camp.

Annabeth, at the question, shook her head a little. "Not that I know of."

"Is it a trip to Disneyland?"

"Why aren't you taking this seriously?" She finally snapped, turning away from Percy and gripping her head with both hands.

"Because you're not telling me what the matter is." Not waiting for permission, Percy took a step towards her and took her hands gently away from her face so he could kiss her. "Do you not trust me?"

"I—" Annabeth swallowed, not meeting his eyes. "Of course, I trust you, Perce. It's just…" She took a shallow breath and took her hands back. A blanket of caution fell across her face and she withdrew inside of herself. "I'm sorry I mentioned it. It's nothing, okay? I could be wrong."

Percy felt his eye twitch with wonder. "Wrong? About what?"

"Can you please leave?"

"No." He felt slightly insulted that she wouldn't tell him. He closed the door to their bedroom and leaned against it. "I'm not going anywhere until you tell me why you're so upset. I care about you."

"Well, you can stop." Annabeth refused to face him. She crossed her arms tight over her chest. "Please, Percy."

"No. What's wrong? Are you failing college?"

"No, P—"

"Did you find out about another sucky prophecy?"

"No, but—"

"Is it that time of the month?"

Annabeth turned a little to make sure Percy saw her look of incredulity.

Something else surfaced in Percy's mind, an idea so horrible he suddenly felt sick.

"Oh gods," he said, pressing his knuckles to his temple. "You're not…you don't want to…break up with me, do you?"

The incredulity turned to confusion. "Wh—?"

"Because if-if you do," Percy couldn't get enough oxygen, "you could just tell me."

"Percy—"

"If whoever else you found makes you happy—"

"What are—?"

"I just…I thought we were happy." Wanting to cry, Percy began reaching into the pockets of his pants. "I even got you someth—"

"Percy, I'm pregnant."

He froze, hand still inside his jean pocket. "You're what?"

Annabeth stared at the opposite wall, face still expressionless.

Percy squinted at her, and the gears in his mind worked very slowly as it comprehended the word. For a few seconds he wondered if he should apologize for whatever he did to make her not like him anymore, but a little voice in the back of his mind said, "_If she wanted to leave you, she'd say so, idiot."_

As he stared, the usual Annabeth-expression flickered, like one of those textured cards that showed a different picture as you tilted it back and forth, and for a moment terror and helplessness flashed across Annabeth's face.

Percy blinked hard and glanced down at Annabeth's stomach and back up again. "…Pregnant_?_ As in…_pregnant_-pregnant?" He opened his mouth to laugh at the joke, but he didn't.

The instant he spoke, Annabeth's whole façade shattered. A dry sob hissed from between her teeth, and her face screwed up in pain. She stumbled, even though she was standing still, and grabbed Percy's shirtfront with both her hands. Even though her eyes were dry she was shaking like a leaf in a windstorm.

"Woah, woah." Percy caught her hands and held them, tilting his head to attempt to get eye contact. "You're-you're _serious_? I-I mean, you're actually…?"

Annabeth didn't say anything, but she kept trembling.

It settled into Percy like one might get into a cold lake: slowly at first, then all at once. It hit him like a bowling ball, and there were suddenly more emotions inside of his heart to comprehend. Happiness, confusion, fear, pure ecstasy ran through his blood, making him hot and cold at the same time.

"Annabeth, this is _fantastic_!" Percy heard himself say, as if it was spoken by someone else. This was so much better than being broken up with. He squeezed Annabeth tighter, lifting her off her feet. He found himself laughing, though he wasn't sure exactly why. "This is such wonderful news! Does anyone else know? Have you told your dad?"

Annabeth shook her head into Percy's shirt, hands flexing and un-flexing.

"Hazel? Piper?"

She kept shaking her head, her breath now wheezing from her as though she was sick.

"When did you find out? Are you even sure you're pr—"

"_I took seven different tests, Percy_," Annabeth finally shouted, letting go of her husband and stumbling over to the bed. Her whole body was hunched over, and she had both of her hands gripping the foot of the bedframe to keep her from falling over.

"Easy, Annabeth." It was difficult, but Percy forced himself to calm down and back up enough to stand in the present again. He went over to the bed where Annabeth was and put his hands on her face. "What's the matter? Why are you so upset? Isn't this a good thing?"

He didn't want to say so, but Percy had never seen Annabeth act like that. She was always the collected one, the one who wasn't ruffled by anything and the one who was always so rational. It made Percy worry.

Although she didn't glance up to meet his eyes, Annabeth took several breaths to quiet herself down. "Perce, I—" Her voice caught and she took another breath. "I can't… I can't be a _mother_."

The words hit Percy like a slap and surprised him so much it took him a second to find the ability to speak again.

"We've talked about this before, though," he whispered, trying not to panic. "You agreed it would be awesome to raise a kid here. Were you…were you_ lying_? Do you really not want children?"

"It's not that…" Annabeth moaned, gripping her stomach like she was falling apart. "I just… I just thought I'd have more time. I'm _nineteen_."

"You'll be twenty in less than three weeks."

"I can't be a mother. I'm not suited for parenthood."

"Are you kidding, Annabeth? You're _amazing_."

Percy found himself fighting with her, _for_ her, for their future. Maybe it hadn't soaked in completely, but he knew one thing; he wanted this more than he'd ever wanted anything in his life. He wasn't about to let it go.

He ran his fingers through a bit of Annabeth's hair, tucking it behind her ear out of her face. "You are the most incredible person I know, Annabeth. You're smart, you're strong, you've saved the world more times than anyone can count—"

"I knew you were going to say that." It was as if all the energy left Annabeth, and she slumped down onto her bed, arms pulled to her body and her face slack. Even her tone was exhausted. "Perce…yeah, I can fight. I know how to kill monsters, how to build self-reinforcing quadradomes, how to solve almost any solvable problem. I know all about twentieth-century architecture and Greek mythology and almost _everything_—except parenting." She pulled her legs up to her chest and rested her forehead against her knees. "I'm a fighter, not a mother."

There was a long period of silence.

Percy stood there in front of the bed, not quite knowing what to say, or if there was even anything he _should_ say. Part of him knew that Annabeth was just scared, that she'd probably snap out of it in a few weeks, but he didn't want to make Annabeth to be so scared for so long. Maybe time could help her, but he knew that at that moment, he just needed to let her sort it out in her own mind. He just needed to support her no matter what, because that's what people do in relationships.

No matter what.

"Okay, then," Percy said in what he hoped to be a reassuring voice. He pulled a bar of salted dark chocolate out of his pocket at slipped it into her own hoodie pocket, and then he kissed the top of her head. "I'll draw you a bath and start dinner, okay? Do meatballs sound okay?"

Annabeth looked up in surprise, almost as if she couldn't believe he stopped fighting her so easily. Her mouth was open a little, but she didn't say anything before Percy left the room to start the bathwater.

Despite his efforts to act nonchalant, Percy couldn't help but practically prancing around the house as he went about his responsibilities. He felt more euphoric and excited than he did the day they won the war with Gaea. He wanted to call all of his friends and tell them that Annabeth was pregnant, but he knew she wouldn't appreciate that at all.

_I'm going to be a dad_, Percy kept repeating to himself in his mind, not fully comprehending but being ecstatic nonetheless. He was going to be the _best_ dad. He was going to always be there, unlike his own dad with him.

Was it a boy or a girl? Or twins? What would they name it? They would need a bigger apartment...

All through shaping the meatballs into the pan, Percy's mind reeled happily. It was as though the world suddenly forgave him for being stupid all the time. _Thanks for being such a champ_, it was saying to him. _You deserve this._

For only one moment, Percy wondered what happened to cause the accident. Did she accidentally forget to take her pill? It didn't matter.

When dinner was done, Percy knocked on the bathroom door and poked his head in.

At first, he thought Annabeth wasn't even in there. The bathtub was spilling over with bubbly foam, almost as high as his waist, but then he saw her face just barely peeking out of a pile of bubbles, and her hand was dangling over the side of the tub, holding a half-eaten chocolate bar.

"Dinner's ready," he said, setting fresh clothes for her on the edge of the sink.

Annabeth's face turned a fraction toward him and she blinked. "You can eat without me."

"…Are you sure?"

"Mmhm." She took a bite of her chocolate and sank further down, until only her mouth was visible.

Shrugging, Percy was closing the door, but a muffled voice stopped him.

"And Perce?" the voice said.

"Yeah?"

"We're all out of bubble bath."

Percy was in bed, a Gameboy balanced on his knees, when Annabeth finally came into their room. She was in a holey tank-top and pajama bottoms, and her hair was scraggly and wet as though she hadn't brushed it when she came out of the bath. When she climbed onto the bed, the lines in her worn face were more prominent than they'd been before.

When he saw her, Percy closed his game and set it on the nightstand to prepare for whatever she wanted to say.

There was a long silence before anything was said, though.

"I don't know if I can do this," Annabeth finally said, leaning back on the headboard.

Percy chose his words carefully, as to not upset her. "I don't think anyone is really…_ready_ when it's their first kid. I mean, I'm scared, too—"

"No, Perce, you don't understand." She turned her head to stare at him, and there was that intense spark in her eyes like she was trying to drill through his soul with just her vision. "I'm _scared_ of spiders. I'm _terrified _of having a kid. See the difference?"

There really was no convincing this girl, was there?

Percy sighed, rubbing his face. "Well…what can I do to make you feel better?"

Annabeth sighed as well. "I don't know," she answered. "The chocolate and bubble bath helped, thank you. You're very sweet."

There was another long pause, at the end of which Percy turned on his side to face Annabeth.

"You're not thinking of…_getting_ _rid of it_, are you?" He shifted uncomfortably, almost not wanting to know.

Annabeth turned to face him, too. Her face was mostly unemotional, except when she heard him say that, her eyes got a little sad. "No. No, of course not. I…I wouldn't do that to you, Perce." She reached over and laced her fingers with his.

A little rock formed inside of Percy's heart. "What about you, though?" he asked softly. "Are you not even a _little_ happy? Do you really not want to have a kid?"

Though Annabeth took a long time before she finally said something, when she did, her words were strong, if soft. "When I was a kid, I didn't imagine being a mother, like a lot of other little girls did at my age. I didn't even own a doll. I hated my mom for abandoning me, and I hated my stepmom for being so awful.

I hear the word 'mom' and I am immediately filled with total resentment. Now, I try to imagine having my own, but I keep thinking of how terribly my motherly influences were, and how I don't want to be anything like them."

Percy kind of knew the feeling of being abandoned by your real parent and having to live with stepparents that stank up the world, but it didn't even bother his own longing to have kids.

"Not all moms are terrible," he tried. "My mom is the best mom anyone could ever ask for. She would love to be a grandma. She's talked to me about it a thousand times."

The corners of Annabeth's mouth lifted in a tired smile. "She's a wonderful lady, your mom, but I'm nothing like her. Honestly. You can tell with some people whether they're meant to be parents or not."

"True," agreed Percy, and he laughed. "All that comes to mind is Clarisse shoving my head in a toilet."

Annabeth chuckled, too, hiding her smile behind her fingers. "You got me there," she said. "I'd rather be more like your mom than Clarisse."

"And can you imagine," he said eagerly, pulling Annabeth closer to him, "going to the park and having a picnic with a girl with little blond pigtails and mismatched socks getting pudding all over her face? Reading her to sleep? We could be the amazing parents we never had."

Percy pressed his face into Annabeth's neck, closing his eyes against her soft skin and feeling her gentle breathing and heartbeat. "Do you honestly not want to be called 'Mommy'?"

Annabeth opened her mouth to reply, but nothing came out. She squeezed her eyes shut and put both of her arms around her husband's neck.

"I _do_ want it, Percy," she swore, knotting her small fingers in his hair. "I want it so badly. I just don't know what to do. I don't want to mess up."

Slowly but surely, Percy was winning that battle. He traced shapes on her back as he thought.

"…I have an idea," he said after a minute, pulling away to look Annabeth in the eyes.

Annabeth sniffed, seeming a little embarrassed that she was such a mess. "What's your idea?"

"Tomorrow, after I get off work and you out of college, we'll go buy a thousand of those 'what-to-expect-when-you're-expecting baby books and read all of them, and we'll go to every one of those weird pregnant yoga classes, and we'll do everything right. We have nine months to figure things out."

"Six-and-a-half, actually." She settled back in the pillows, wormed her way under the blankets, and half-closed her eyes. "And you know we can't read that well."

"Then we'll just look at the pictures."

Annabeth laughed, shaking her head at him. "Alright. Fine."

It took Percy a second to understand what she meant, but when he did, joy burst inside of him like fireworks. His heart jammed up into his throat and he laughed. "So you're going to let us be parents?"

"Saying it like that makes me sound like a bad person."

"You're not, you're not," he atoned, kissing Annabeth on the lips. "I'm just…I'm really happy."

Annabeth closed her eyes, but a little smile crinkled the corners of her eyes. "…Yeah, me too, but I'm really tired."

"Okay, sorry."

A minute passed, but Percy's head wouldn't stop spinning. He wasn't going to sleep.

"Hey, Annabeth?" he whispered, lifting his head to see if she was still awake.

She grunted, opening her eyes again and seeming slightly homicidal.

"When did you find out?"

"This morning," she said, pulling the blanket up to her nose and closing her eyes again.

"Should we tell everyone tomorrow?"

"Sure, whatever." She turned onto her side away from him.

Percy stared at the ceiling, listening to her steady breathing. "...Do you think it's a boy or a girl?"

"Percy, I sweat to Zeus, if you don't let me sleep—"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." He snuggled up to her and put his arm around her waist. "Goodnight, Annabeth. I love you."

"I love you too, now _shush_."

Percy smiled against her back.

Percy woke to his alarm the next morning. It rang for several minutes before Annabeth's punched him to turn it off.

Percy happily stayed in bed for a few more minutes, eyes closed against Annabeth's sweet-smelling shirt. The bed was so warm and the sounds of the city from outside were so happy and welcoming; he would've been happy staying in bed forever, dozing peacefully in a sleepy trance.

He _would've_ been, if he hadn't remembered what had happened the night before.

Percy's eyes shot open and he clambered half-upright, peering over Annabeth's shoulder to see if she, too, was awake.

"Annabeth," he whispered for good measure. "Are you awake?"

She mumbled something inaudible, but did not move or open her eyes.

Percy waited another second. "How are you feeling today?"

_Mumblemumble_.

"...Do you want me to get you anything? I can make you some pancakes. Do you want me to bring you coffee in bed?"

"I want you to let me _sleep_." Annabeth finally replied, peeling her eyes open and giving her husband an aggravated glare. "You forget you're the only one that needs to be up at this ungodly hour."

".. Don't you have college today?"

"It's Monday. No school on Mondays." Annabeth turned onto her stomach, face sunken in her pillow, and mumbled something else before going quiet.

After whispering an apology to her, Percy got up out of bed alone and got dressed for work. He wanted very badly to go about his morning whistling, but he didn't want to bother Annabeth any more. She needed her rest. Although he'd always felt it, he felt an even_ more_ intense urge to take care of her, to get her anything she wanted the second she wanted it and make sure she was happy. He knew it would drive her insane, but he wouldn't take no for an answer.

Percy made himself a gourmet breakfast (three bowls of Fruit Loops and a banana) and headed off to work, only stopping for a moment to write Annabeth a little note and set it on the nightstand before leaving.

If the work Percy did was ever boring (which it was) and dragged on (which it did), that was nothing compared to that day. Five minutes seemed to take five hours, and an hour took a week. He found himself checking the clock every few minutes, and at one point, he could've sworn it was going backwards. He just wanted to get back home to Annabeth.

When he clocked off at two o'clock, Percy barely bothered saying goodbye to his coworkers before grabbing his stuff and flying out of the building.

The sky overhead was mottled gray, with only a single blue patch floating above the mountains, but the day couldn't have been happier. Maybe there _was_ a storm coming on, but no amount of rain could dampen the euphoria that Percy was feeling. He danced past the vendors and cafes and the block full of fountains. Several people on the streets noticed his good mood and waved as he strolled by as if the city was about to burst into show tunes like in all the cheesy, old movies he and Annabeth often watched.

The only stop Percy made on his whole trip home was at a bakery, where he bought the biggest, tastiest-looking square of fudge he saw and pocketed it for Annabeth later.

When he finally got to the apartments, Percy bounded up the staircase, through the hallway, and he burst into the apartment.

"Annabeth!" he hollered, taking his shoes off and throwing his bag down at its usual spot by the couch. "I'm home!"

There wasn't a reply, so Percy went to check the bedroom. Curiously enough, though, Annabeth wasn't in there. He couldn't help but feel a little worried, and next tried the bathroom.

"Annab-?" Percy stopped and gave a little laugh when he saw Annabeth on the floor, propped up against the side of the bathtub.

When she heard the door open, Annabeth's head snapped up, and she blinked groggily through a mess of curly hair.

"There you are. I was worried." The momentary relief was once again replaced with that bit of concern. "What are you doing in here? Are you feeling okay?"

Annabeth smacked her lips and glanced around. "Um, I-I guess," she replied, voice gravely. "Aren't you supposed to be at work?"

"It's almost two-thirty," Percy replied, reaching a hand down to help his wife. "We get off early on Mondays."

"Two-thirty? No, No, no." Annabeth rubbed her eyes. "It was only eleven when I—" She faltered and glanced quickly at the other demigod, as though she made a mistake and was waiting for his reaction. Her husband arched his eyebrows. "What?" she snapped defensively. "Don't give me that face. I'm fine. I was just feeling a little sick, that's all. I guess I just fell asleep there in the bathroom."

"Annabeth, tell me the truth." With a protective ferocity he hadn't felt in some time, Percy took Annabeth's wrists and stared her in the eyes. "Are you okay?"

"_Yes, _I am_." _She took her hands away from him, frowning. "Don't act like I'm helpless."

Percy couldn't help but feel a little upset. He had practically sashayed through New Rome to get back home to her and dance in his happiness _with_ her, but she didn't seem as happy to see him as he was to see her.

Upon the drastic change in mood, Annabeth widened her eyes a little and winced. She put her hand on Percy's face. "I didn't mean for that to come out so rude," she said, sounding contrite. "I'm sorry. That was probably not the welcome home you had expected."

"Well, yeah." In attempt to make a joke, Percy grinned and shrugged. "I expected a little more when I came strutting through the door with my hair blowing back in the wind and my impressive muscles rippling as I picked you up and carried you into our room for a candlelit hour on our pillows."

"Catch me, I'm swooning," Annabeth said sarcastically, and she rolled her eyes. "How about I start with a simple 'Hi, Percy. I'm glad to see you. How was your day at work?'"

"It was eight hours I spent without you, so it could've been better."

The two sat down on their couch facing the big window in their living room, and Annabeth was the first to snort as she stretched her legs across her husband's lap.

"What's with you being so cheesy lately?" she asked in a teasing, yet fond tone, and pulled a piece of paper from her pocket. "I got the note you left me, by the way. '_You're the icing that makes my muffin a cupcake,'" _Annabeth read from the paper, and peeked upwards. "Seriously? I mean, it's sweet and all, but _seriously_?"

"I was trying for a metaphor that you'd really understand," Percy explained, while managing to keep a straight face. "Muffins are cool, you know, but cupcakes get all the attention, but only because they have the inch-thick layer of frosting and chewy rainbow sprinkles and stuff."

The other demigod blinked.

"I thought about comparing you with the peanut butter on my pancakes, but then I remembered you don't like peanut butter on your pancakes. Cupcakes just felt right. It sums you up: sugary and sweet and rainbow sprinkles and those cheap little ring-toppers that never fit anyone's fingers."

Annabeth started to get up, but Percy wrapped his arms around her before she could leave.

"No, please don't go." He pulled her to him. "I'm sorry I'm stupid. I just really wanted you to know that I was thinking about you while I was at work."

Instead of struggling, Annabeth sighed and relented. "I can't stay annoyed at you when you give me that look," she said, "but honestly, I don't know how much more stupid I can take. And don't even _think_ that I can't see how anxious you're getting."

"Anxious? I don't know what you mean." Percy did, however, know what Annabeth was talking about. Ever since he woke up, he'd wanted to talk to her about—well, they both knew what about. It was the only thing on his mind, taking up every space left, filling him to the brim with all sorts of feelings.

The two demigods had a narrow-eyed staring contest for a few seconds until Annabeth rolled her eyes and looked away.

"I win," Percy gloated, "so now I can talk about it as much as I want." He pulled one of his arms away from her shoulders and slipped a hand under the bottom of her tank top.

Annabeth smacked his hand away. "Stop that."

"I just want to feel it."

"It's not big enough yet, dingbat."

"I don't care." Percy blew a raspberry, but surrendered and took his hand away from her stomach. "At _least_ let me fulfill the promise I made to you. Are you feeling up to taking a walk around the city with me?"

The scowl on Annabeth's face was beautiful. "I'm pregnant, not dying, Perce. You'd better not treat me like I'm useless and fragile because of this."

"I wasn't calling you useless and fragile," Percy responded, not missing a beat, and he flicked his wife's nose. "I was mainly referring to whether you were willing to change out of your pajamas yet."

A glance down at herself made Annabeth aware that she was indeed still in her holey tank-top and PJ bottoms. She looked back at her husband and sighed. "Fine. I'll go get dressed and then we'll leave, but don't even think you could get away with feeling me up like that in public."

"I wasn't feeling you up!" Percy insisted, but Annabeth was already gone.

Several minutes and one hunt for a missing shoe later, Annabeth reemerged from their room in jeans and an intact tank-top. She was brushing her hair out and holding a few hairpins in her teeth. When she caught Percy looking at her, she froze.

"What is it?" she asked, glancing hastily down at herself. "It isn't obvious, is it? You can't tell yet, can you?"

"No, of course not," Percy said, mostly to reassure her, even though he wasn't even looking at her stomach. "It's not big enough yet, dingbat," he mocked what she'd said earlier in a terrible falsetto.

"You're driving me crazy." Annabeth pulled her hair away from her face and stuck it with pins. "Let's go before I make you stay home."  
Percy opened the door for her and they were off.

It took forever finding a store that had what they were looking for in it. Percy knew a thousand places they could buy what they wanted out in the mortal world, but the stores in New Rome were a lot less generalized. They managed to find a pamphlet on pregnancy in one shop, but they didn't get it because Annabeth said it was completely unnecessary.

After wandering New Rome for about an hour, Percy and Annabeth finally found what they were looking for. The market they were browsing was full to the brim of surprisingly modern baby clothes, toys and supplies. It was like the baby section of Walmart puked up on a mismatch of wooden tables and vendors booths.

"This place will be useful later," Percy mentioned offhandedly, but Annabeth did not reply.

Finally, at the far in of the market was a booth stacked with books that had pictures of smiling babies and pregnant women on them. Some of them appeared to be in duel-language; every other page was in Latin.

"This is so humiliating," Annabeth mumbled, picking up one of the books and scanning over the back of it.

"How come?" Percy examined the cover of one book, which had a beautiful, happy-looking woman with a stomach swollen to the size of a watermelon. He thought inwardly that it was false advertising because Annabeth was not half that happy as the woman. Just the thought of her mood when she got as big as that made him cringe. "People get pregnant all the time, and we _are_ married."

"It was an accident," Annabeth tried explaining, flipping through some pages, "which means that we were irresponsible."

"It wasn't irresponsibility. Your pills were obviously malfunctioning."

Annabeth stiffened, and she slowly turned her head to face an accusatory glare at him. "Percy," she said, gritting her teeth, "I told you three days before that happened that I was taking a few months off of them because they were making me lose hair."

Oh gods. Percy inched away from his wife.

"Are you telling me you _forgot_ I wasn't taking my pills, and we didn't use _any_ contraceptives?"

Several people around them in the market glanced in their direction and shuffled on their feet uncomfortably.

Annabeth stood where she was, seething and gritting her teeth and practically spitting fire at the ground. Then, slowly, her body began to relax and her face smoothed back into an indifferent expression.

"I'm sorry," she said, though it sounded painful. "It was my fault for not double-checking. Now let's stop talking about this; people are staring."

Percy felt like a world-class jerk. He should've remembered something that important, but he supposed he just got caught up with the moment and didn't think at all. Well, now it really _was_ irresponsibility, but he doubted a simple "I'm sorry" wouldn't make Annabeth forgive him.

As if sensing what her husband was thinking, Annabeth sighed and turned to him again. "I'm not mad at you, Perce," she said wearily, and she picked up another book. "It wasn't _that_ big of a mistake, I guess. Now, if we'd been making a bomb and you mixed the solution wrong, yeah I'd be angry at you. This is a happy mistake, right?"

She sounded like she was trying to convince herself more than him, but Percy appreciated it. He took the books from Annabeth's arms and found the owner to pay for all of them. He wasn't even considering complaining about the atrocious amount of reading he'd have to do.

Annabeth took Percy's hand as they were leaving the market. "Did you have anything else in mind while we're out here?"

"We might as well get some more food. We're almost out of Fruit Loops and mi—"

"Percy! Annabeth!"

The two demigods turned around in surprise to find Hazel running towards them, toting Frank behind her by the hand.

At sixteen, Hazel had filled out a lot more and her hair was almost past her waist. Her face was just as excited and bright, though, like it'd been ever since her curse was broken. Frank the Praetor hadn't changed as much as his girlfriend did; he still donned the blessing his dad had given him, with his bulky muscles and hard jaw line, but his eyes seemed to be older, and it had nothing to do with his newfound adulthood. Maybe that came with being praetor.

Hazel ran up to Percy and Annabeth and stopped in front of them, a little out of breath.

"We thought we'd lose you before we could catch up," she laughed, and straightened up. "What have you two been up to?"

"Nothing much," Annabeth answered, casually twisting the bag in her hand so the spines were not visible. "We've just been out shopping. What about you two? How's the Legion?"

"Still crazy."

"Yeah," Frank agreed, shaking his head. "It's been years and it's still difficult for everyone to accept the existence of the Greek culture. We just had to break up a fight in the bath house."

"We're here to buy new faucets." The daughter of Pluto was trying not to laugh. "Four of them were broken off in the fight. It doesn't matter, though. They got what they…" Hazel tapered off, her grin turning slowly into a suspicious frown. She looked around the corner to the market that her friends had just been in, and then squinted at the bag Annabeth was holding.

Though he wasn't as keen to hide anything as Annabeth was, Percy felt he should do his part to make sure Annabeth told whom she wanted to on her own terms.

"We were going to go find you two later," Percy said calmly, taking his wife's hand. "We thought we could all go out to eat together."

"Of course." Hazel was clearly having a hard time fighting off a wide smile. She bit her lip. "Where should we meet you?"

Percy glanced down at Annabeth for her input.

"What about the little restaurant being the Coliseum?" Annabeth suggested. The only thing that betrayed her feelings was her hand tightening in her husband's hand.

"They have really good burgers." Frank, who obviously didn't understand what his girlfriend did, smiled helpfully and put his arm around Hazel's shoulder. "We haven't hung out with you guys in ages."

"It's only a shame Piper, Jason and Leo couldn't be here with us…"

Percy couldn't help but agree with Hazel, there. He knew Annabeth preferred sharing big news in person, but there was nothing they could do about it. In fact, the only people they really _could_ tell in person were Hazel and Frank. Everybody else would have to settle with Iris-Messages.

"Well, we still have some shopping left to do," Annabeth said after a long pause. She eyed the other girl for a second and then cleared her throat. "We'll see you around six, okay?"

"Sure thing." With one last sneaky, knowing grin, Hazel led Frank back off the direction they were originally heading.

Percy and Annabeth watched them leave.

"…Hazel totally knew," Percy guessed when they disappeared around the corner.

"Yeah, she did." Instead of making an aggravated retort, Annabeth just shook her head at the ground. "Come on. Let's finish up out here so we can go back in time to IM everyone else before six."

It only took Percy and Annabeth another half-hour to finish their shopping. By the time they got back to their apartment, their arms were heavy laden with groceries. Percy dumped all of the food off on the kitchen table by himself, just because Annabeth opened one of the baby books and was immediately lost in reading.

When Percy was done, he went back into their small living room and plopped down on the sofa next to the other demigod.

"Good read?" he joked.

"Not even a little bit." Annabeth turned the page and winced. "Some of this stuff really freaks me out. Especially the diagrams."

Percy glanced over her shoulder and exclaimed. "That's disgusting."

"Mm."

"I was thinking about messaging my mom. You're joining me, right?"

Even though she seemed like she really wanted to say no, Annabeth closed the book and set it on the coffee table. "Of course. It might be a little late there in New York, though."

Percy watched her stand and just wanted to wrap his arms around her and bury his face in her hair and—

"It's okay; she stays up late a lot." He stood, too.

"Awesome." Annabeth sounded like it was anything _except_ awesome, but she didn't pause turning on the saltwater fountain mounted on the wall next to the kitchen door. The mist sprayed to life in a fountain of color, and without waiting, she flipped a _drachma_ into the rainbow.

Even though Sally Jackson was caught in a bathrobe and hair curlers, she reacted as any parent would when she heard The News. Her hands shot outwards in surprise, sending a half-full coffee cup flying across the kitchen as she let out a shriek.

"You're having a _baby?!_" she gasped, as though the idea was both absurd and fantastic at the same time. One of her curlers popped out.

Annabeth, at the bluntness of the reiterated question, winced and tensely brushed a bit of her hair out of her face. "You might want to scream that again," she said a little sourly, face turning red. "I don't think everyone in the country heard you."

"That is so wonderful!" It seemed like Sally didn't care what Annabeth said. She gasped again, as if she remembered something, and turned her head away from the Iris-Message to yell, "_Paul!_ Paul, get in here!"

A few minutes later, a half-asleep and unfortunately shirtless Paul shuffles into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes. "Is everything o—?" He saw the floating cloud of mist with his stepson and stepdaughter-in-law and gave a start. "What…?"

"Paul, they're having a baby!" Sally threw her arms around her husband's neck and spun him around before finally letting go. She had only three curlers left in her hair by then, but her face was glowing. When she saw the expression of the demigods in the mist in front of them, she withdrew in embarrassment. "I'm sorry," Sally said, putting her hand to her red cheek. "That wasn't my news to share, was it?"

"That's okay," Percy said, attempting to downplay anything because of Annabeth's lack of enthusiasm. "He would've found out eventually anyways."

Paul, who looked like he was still mostly asleep, shook his head and stared into the mist. "That's great news! Do you know whether it's a boy or girl yet?"

The whole thing seemed to be killing Annabeth. She put both of her hands on her stomach and shrank a little. "It's too early to tell," she said quietly. "I'm still in my first trimester."

Sally let out a little shriek, as if the term "trimester" was the greatest thing she'd ever heard, and wiped at something on her face. "You already have the vocabulary down…" she sniffed.

"The vocabulary…?" Annabeth looked up at Percy, and her eyes were begging him to let her leave.

"When are you due? What's the due date?" Sally kept going, dashing around a chair to get closer to the message screen.

"…January fifteenth."

The older woman shrieked again. "Oh, you're just going to love being a mother. I always knew you'd give me grandchildren. This is so fantastic…" She began gushing to Paul, holding his arms and telling him all about Annabeth, even though he already knew.

"Um," Percy cleared his throat. "Hey, mom?"

Sally nearly tripped turning around so fast. "Yes, dear?"

"Annabeth had something to do. Maybe we could just talk for a bit? Without her?"

Annabeth scoffed nearly inaudibly and mumbled something that sounded like, "_So subtle,"_ but she did look grateful when Sally agreed and let her go. After giving Percy a quick kiss on the cheek, she disappeared.

It was good talking to his mom again; Percy hadn't talked to her in a few months (yeah, he was a bad son), but it turned out that there wasn't that much that either of them were missing out on. His mom was in the process of getting another book published, Paul was going to be the vice-principle of Goode, and they were considering upsizing their apartment.

Percy told his mom and stepdad about New Rome in the summertime and his problems with college. He wanted to go into oceanology, but with the largest body of water being a lake for miles around, it was really difficult finding in-the-field work for that.

It was an hour and many _drachmas _later when they finally hung up. When he looked, Percy found Annabeth at her desk putting the finishing touches on her latest project for college, a week before the due-date.

"Sorry that happened," Percy apologized, sitting on the edge of the bed closest to her desk. "Mom can definitely be overenthusiastic sometimes."

"That's alright. I should've expected it." Annabeth stuck the pieces of her project in a manila envelope and sealed it. Her tone was a lot more relaxed, confirming what she'd always said; designing things made her calm down. She swiveled in her chair to face the other demigod. "How're they doing?"

"Good." Percy paraphrased what had gone on in his and his mom's conversation the past hour, and when he was done, he propped his elbows up on his knees. "So, do you want to call your family next?"

Annabeth's nose wrinkled in distaste. "I don't want to know Jia's reaction would be. I want to wait until she's not at home to tell Dad." Her eyes wandered over to the analog clock depicting the 12 Olympian gods at each hour. "It's also getting close to time to leave for dinner. We'll barely have time to message Camp."

"Let's do that, then. Maybe it won't be as dramatic as the call with my mom this time."

When they made the call, a hundred pairs of eyes stopped appeared, staring back at them.

When they asked Iris to show them Jason and Piper, they hadn't bothered to think of where they'd be at that time. Turned out the whole of Camp Half-Blood was having their campfire sing-alongs before "My Best Friend is a Hekatonkheires" was interrupted by the IM.

Annabeth mumbled a Grecian curse under her breath that would've made the gods proud.

The sky over Camp Half-Blood was black as ink, but the amphitheater was lit brighter than the sun by a ten-foot-tall purple fire roaring like the Nemian Lion. Kids in orange T-shirts were crowded around, hanging off each other and holding sticks with burning marshmallows on them, gawking at the image in the mist as though they hadn't seen an Iris-Message before.

Jason and Piper appeared in the view, looking interested.

"Well, if it isn't two of our most famous heroes," Jason laughed, putting his hands on his hips. "Miss your old camp much?"

Fine—Percy hadn't IM'ed them in a while, either. He was just bad at staying in touch.

"More than I miss my dignity," Percy replied, sad to note that he only recognized a few people in the crowd. Most everyone he knew from his Camp days were done and moved on with their lives. A few stayed and were counselors, but 90% of the people in orange were faces he'd never met before.

"I guess we should've checked the time differences before calling," he thought aloud, glancing over at Annabeth to see her reaction, which was still uncomfortable.

"Nah. Don't worry about it, Percy."

At Percy's name, at least half of the whole camp gasped simultaneously. The crowd appeared to convulse, everyone climbing over one another to try to get a glimpse at the other two demigods.

"_Percy_?" they whispered. "Percy _Jackson?"_

Jason, obviously the head Camp counselor, gestured at them to be quiet. "It's as good a time as any. Was there something in particular you wanted to talk about, or were you just checking in?"

Annabeth, breaking her unspoken vow of silence, shifted. "We were kind of hoping to talk to you and Piper about it in private."

"Private?" Piper, in an orange tank-top and khaki shorts, looked as good as she normally did, but there was something in her eyes Percy didn't like. It was a sort of calculating look.

Percy frowned. She was the god of love's kid, so she could tell things other people normally couldn't: relationship status, fashion expertise, and probably—

"Annabeth, we should go—" Percy started to say to his wife, but was interrupted.

"Wait, wait, wait." Piper's eyes were the size of dinner plates, and she obviously forgot there were a hundred other people behind her. "Annabeth, you're not—?"

"Piper, please don't—"

"—_pregnant, _are you?"

The crowd gasped again, this time much louder, and the whole Aphrodite section squealed.

A voice in the back, obviously Leo's, cat-called loudly.

The curse Annabeth muttered was much worse than the first and she looked like she was wondering whether she should run or not.

"Easy," Percy said quietly to her, grabbing her arm. "Don't freak out."

"How can I not freak out?" she hissed through her teeth. "The whole _goddamn_ _world_ knows now."

"That's not something to panic over."

Annabeth shot daggers at her husband, but managed to take a deep breath. Her next words were directed towards the demigod on the other end of the IM. "Piper, I would appreciate if you would hold your tongue next time. I hadn't planned on telling the entire Camp."

"You're the one that Iris-Messaged us during our campfire time." A familiar face came into view, one Percy wasn't sure he was glad to see. Clarisse was even larger than she was the last time he saw her, beefy and scarred, but the grin on her face was only partially malicious. "I thought you'd get knocked up years ago, but better late than never, right?"

"Percy," Annabeth said, her teeth still gritted ferociously. "I think we need to leave before I decide to buy a plane ticket over there to kill some of our friends."

For once, Percy agreed with her, and only said, "IM us later, okay, Jason?" before turning the fountain off.

The image of Camp Half-Blood dissolved, leaving Percy and Annabeth alone in their quiet apartment.

There was silence for several minutes.

Percy tried reaching his arms out for his wife. "Annabeth—"

Annabeth shoved him away violently. "Don't. Just don't."

He didn't listen, and tried following her as she stomped across the living room. "Annabeth, I'm sorry they did that. We should've left the second we realized we weren't alone."

"_Now_ you realize that?" The other demigod smacked his hands away again, heaving air into her lungs like it was difficult to breathe. Her eyes were getting red. "We shouldn't have even tried to tell anyone. I can't believe they'd do that, we should've just…"

"It isn't even a big deal. Don't let this ruin everything, okay?" Percy begged, but Annabeth sat down hard on the floor against the side of the couch, cradling her head in her hands.

"Go away, Perce," she begged, hiding her face. "Please. I don't want to cry in front of you."

Knowing it was the best thing to do, Percy just obeyed and left Annabeth to herself while he went into the kitchen to put the groceries away. Part of him was keeping track of the time, knowing they didn't have long until they were supposed to meet their friends for dinner, but he knew it would not be good to remind Annabeth at that moment. If he needed to he would simply IM Hazel and Frank and call it off.

Half past five o'clock, Percy realized there was no sound coming from the living room, so he ventured out. As he suspected, Annabeth had retired into the bathroom. Maybe she remembered their appointment with friends after all. No matter.

With nothing else to do, Percy went into their room to change. He was halfway through buttoning his shirt up when Annabeth walked through the bedroom doorway.

Percy couldn't help but stare.

The dress Annabeth had chosen to wear was dark red and fell just to her knees, with Grecian-like shoulder clasps and a shockingly low neckline. Her hair was down over one shoulder and she was actually wearing makeup, which made her look like even more of an angel. Percy's favorite part, though he wasn't going to mention it, was the fact that he could just barely see the two-and-a-half months of Annabeth's pregnancy curving around the dress creases.

He couldn't even notice that she'd been crying; her face was smooth and she'd resumed her usual good posture with no sense of reluctance or stress.

"You look gorgeous," Percy said honestly, abandoning his buttoning job to go over to Annabeth.

Annabeth looked down. "Thanks. Sorry I acted like that. I shouldn't have. I know I've apologized a lot for that, but I really am sorry." She reached her hands around her stomach and hesitated for a moment before putting both her hands to her dress. "I lost my head for a minute."

Though he wasn't sure how she'd react, Percy leaned closer and put both of his hands over hers, skimming his thumbs over her hipbones. "I just want you to be happy."

"I _am_ happy," the other demigod said back, sounding uncertain of her own answer. "I'm mad at our stupid friends, but I'm happy. It's just going to take a lot of getting used to. I can't hide it from the world forever, especially when I get to be the size of a beach ball." She turned away from her husband to look at her profile in the floor-length mirror hanging on the back of the bedroom door. "You can kind of tell already, can't you?"

When Percy only grinned at her, she just rolled her eyes.

"I'll take that as a yes. Oh well." Annabeth sighed, dropping her hands but still staring at her reflection. "Maybe it'll just look like I had too much for dinner…"

It took a few more minutes for them to be ready to leave. It was mostly Annabeth waiting for Percy, however, because he still had to finish buttoning his shirt, putting on shoes and combing his hair. When they were finally done, Percy grabbed his wallet and they left the apartment.

It was a quick walk to the restaurant where they were meeting their friends. They stopped briefly to admire the miniature Coliseum before continuing around the block.

The diner was a charming mash of Roman and log style. The columns out front were carved from a dark red wood of which Percy didn't know the name. Roman-looking lanterns hung on either side of the door gave the dusk a glowing, mysterious feel, but the climbing ivy and traces of laughter from the inside of the diner were as welcoming as any other.

The two demigods went inside, and in no time found Frank and Hazel waiting for them.

"Sorry we're a little late," Percy started when they sat down, receiving two more menus from the waitress.

"No worries. How are things?" Hazel's golden eyes twinkled over her own menu.

"Good, good. Hey, Frank," Percy said, letting his eyes wander around, taking in the dim lighting and tinkle of glasses and the wait staff in uniform dress, "you said there are good _burgers_ here?"

"Um," the son of Mars wiggled a little in his seat, looking embarrassed. "Yeah. Yeah, they make pretty good burgers."

"Right. Just wondering." Percy opened his menu and scanned it, knowing both he and Annabeth were wondering why on earth anyone would order cheeseburgers from a restaurant that looked like they would more likely serve roasted duck on silver platters.

The conversation between the four half-bloods remained light and casual for most of their outing. They exchanged thoughts, anecdotes, and private longings for the "good ol' days." Even though they had spent most of their days running for their lives, each one of them agreed that the great quest they'd been on were some of the best days of their lives.

"Being a praetor is awesome and all," Frank said, twirling a bit of parsley around with his fork, "but there's something about a routine lifestyle that really chains you after a while. Sure, someone gets maimed every other War Games or so, but it's not like it used to be before the war."

The other three laughed, but they knew what he was saying.

"It's hard not getting into trouble, you're right." Percy ignored his wife's scoff and took a bite. "Ever since I was twelve, terrible things happened at least once a year to me—to us—and it's been constant chaos. Actually having a normal life is nearly impossible."

"We keep it interesting," Annabeth added, sipping her _muslum_. "The occasional sword fight in the living room spices things up, but then we have to go buy whole new drapes and throw pillows. We've bought how many sets of new curtains this year?"

"Four, I think."

Hazel and Frank snorted.

"Well, when the war was happening, it really felt like we couldn't have peace. I was so afraid the Romans wouldn't let the grudge go." A piece of curly hair fell into Hazel's face and she blew it away. "We Romans are crazy stubborn. There was a 90% the others were just going to vote on a mass Greek manhunt and just kill all of you. Who would've guessed that three years later we'd have Greeks calling New Rome their home? Going to school, having families, living their lives…"

Feeling the breaking of the News like an oncoming storm, Percy sent a sideways glance at Annabeth, who read his thoughts without even meeting his gaze.

"It's as good a time as any to tell you two," she said, setting down her spoon and looking up with a stoic certainty to her face. "We've got some news to share, although you've already guessed."

A sound like a strangled giggle burst from Hazel's mouth, but she quickly pretended to sneeze. "Not at all. What did you want to tell us?"

Even though her mien was quite confident, the daughter of Athena had to swallow a few times to get her voice working. When she spoke, it was like an arrow—sudden and to the point.

"I'm pregnant," Annabeth said, attempting to hide her shaking hands by picking up her drink and taking another sip. "The baby is due in January, we don't know its gender yet, and I found out yesterday morning."

Percy wanted to laugh; she'd given the answers to the questions that his mom had asked her, which admittedly spared a lot of time, hesitation, and interruptions.

Frank laughed out, "_Seriously?_ Congratulations!" the same time that Hazel finally let her giggles escape.

"Annabeth, that's so amazing!" she said, putting her arms around herself gleefully. "I'm so happy for you two! Have you told the others?"

The sturdy look on Annabeth's face faltered into a frustrated grimace. "If by 'the others' you mean Jason, Piper and Leo, then yes. They were actually kind of insensitive."

"Oh, don't be mad at them." Hazel blew a tickled raspberry. "They were probably just excited. People don't think, sometimes, and they say stupid things, but that doesn't mean they meant any harm by it."

"Except when it's Clarisse," Percy pointed out, but shut up when Annabeth raised her eyebrow at him challengingly.

"You're right, Hazel," Annabeth told the other girl, ignoring her husband beside her. "They're our friends, and I know they didn't upset me intentionally." She shook her head. "I've reacted badly to _everything_ the past two days."

"Is it the hormones?"

"I don't think so. It's just difficult coming to terms with the whole thing." She chuckled drily. "A week or two ago I kept having seriously bad cramps and Percy was convinced I was dying, and wouldn't shut up until I let him take me in to the doctor, but the whole way there…"

Percy easily tuned out the girls as they talked about the whole thing. He could tell Annabeth was really grateful for another girl to talk about all of her girl things with. They even got into some of the weirder details without even caring that the guys were there, which made both Percy and Frank uncomfortable.

Percy made an amused face at the other boy, rolling his eyes and pretending to gag. Frank, who'd always been the quietest of the seven, only smiled in return. Although he didn't show it quite as enthusiastically as his girlfriend did, he seemed admiring and pleased as well, and he kept looking over at Annabeth as though he really couldn't believe she was pregnant.

They spent a while there at the restaurant, talking and eating, and every so often Hazel would burst and mention the pregnancy again, and they all had to pretend they hadn't just spent two hours talking about it.

It was after ten at night when the demigods decided it was time to head back.

Percy footed the bill and opened the door for the others.

"You're going to have to keep us updated, you know," Hazel zipped up her jacket, even though it was warm out. "We'll do this again, more often."

"And next time, _we'll_ pay." Frank said, and he shook Percy's hand while Hazel hugged Annabeth tightly.

After Percy hugged Hazel, too, he took Annabeth's hand. "We need to go, but we'll see you again soon."

"You'd better."

Hazel and Frank's smiles were the last thing the other two demigods saw before the shadows swallowed them—probably _literally_, with shadow-traveling and all.

The walk back was quiet and beautiful. New Rome lit up in a way Manhattan never did. Instead of neon lights and rows of windows and beacons of color, there was only the occasional warm street lamp and torches hanging from walls. Where the darkness was ink, it glowed as if the whole city was built on the top of its own red sun.

Percy walked on in silence, his arm around Annabeth's shoulders. He wanted to say something, _anything_, but he wasn't sure what he should say. Some part of him knew that she was sick of talking about her condition, but it wouldn't leave his mind.

"Annabeth," he said softly after a while, not looking over at her, "what are you most afraid of with this?"

Originally, he would've thought she would make some sarcastic retort, but it appeared the night softened her as well.

"…Raising it alone," Annabeth whispered almost inaudibly. "I've always been afraid of you loving another girl, and I wouldn't have anyone there to help me."

"Of course I'll love another girl."

She snapped her head up to look at him with a steely "_wrong answer"_ look.

"In six-and-a-half months, and she'll call you 'mommy.'" Smiling to himself, Percy leaned over and kissed the side of Annabeth's head. "There's one of your fears alleviated right there. I'm never leaving you."

"I know," Annabeth said matter-of-factly. "That's why I never told you before. Just because it's irrational doesn't mean I don't still fear it," Her silver eyes flitted up at him, "but that was a really sweet thing for you to say. What if it's a boy?"

"Boys still call their mothers 'mommy' sometimes."

They got to their apartment, and Annabeth turned to smirk at her husband. "I'll bet you still call your mom 'mommy' when no one's around."

"And I'll bet you want to be locked out of the apartment." Percy unlocked it and pretended to want to get in before her so he could lock her out. It didn't work, though, because Annabeth stuck her foot in the doorway and punched him in the gut hard enough to distract him while she entered.

"I'm tired," she said, closing the door behind her. "I'm just going to go straight to bed. Are you planning on staying up?"

Massaging the spot where he was punched, Percy straightened up with a grimace. "No, but I need a shower first."

"Yeah, okay, but I'm only staying up another ten minutes."

"I'll hurry." He ruffled her hair and left for the bathroom.

One of the things it took a while getting used to living together was the bathroom situation. Annabeth had kept her promise of keeping their stuff neatly separated, but she also refused to buy completely different sets of shampoos and soaps because it was "pointless." Although Percy did have his own manly body wash, it was always drowned out by the smell of fruity shampoo.

Less than ten minutes later, Percy was walking back into his and Annabeth's bedroom, rubbing his strawberry-vanilla-scented hair down with a small towel.

"Hey, I was thinking, since your college—" Percy stopped talking when he looked up, and slowly a grin began forming on his face.

Despite her promise, Annabeth was fast asleep, propped halfway up on her pillows as if she'd accidentally passed out while waiting for him. Some of her eye makeup was smeared on one of her cheeks and there was a strand of hair inside the corner of her mouth, but she was still beautiful.

As not to wake her, Percy carefully crawled under the covers next to Annabeth and adjusted the pillows around her to make it more comfortable.

"Goodnight," he whispered, although she couldn't hear, and he closed his eyes.

That was going to be a long year.

**oOo**

_Just out of curiosity, if I DID continue, do y'all think I should write a chapter for each month of her pregnancy? So all-in-all there might be eight chapters or something? What do you guys think?_


	2. Chapter 2

_Howdy howdy! Thanks to everyone for reviewing the last chapter. I didn't imagine anyone actually liking it enough to tell me to continue, so I'm very flattered and pleased. As per request and suggestion, there is going to be a chapter for each month after the second (since that was last chapter). So please, enjoy!_

_Oh, and y'all wanted more cutesy fluff and junk, so this chapter will definitely have that. _

**oOo**

_**Month Three**_

Percy woke up early on July 12th to the sound of a quiet chiming sound coming from the living room. He wanted to mumble and curse, but one look at his clock sent him scrambling out of bed. Apparently his alarm hadn't gone off (had he even remembered to set it the night before?), but it wasn't his work he was afraid of being late for. He quickly checked to see if Annabeth was still asleep—which she was—before leaving to address the noise that'd woken him up.

It turned out the sound was coming from the saltwater fountain next to the kitchen. A pleasant voice was telling him to please insert one drachma, and when he did, his dull morning-senses got immediately assaulted by half a dozen faces in party hats throwing confetti.

"Happy birthday!" they all yelled the second Percy appeared in the IM screen, but their confetti-throwing hands paused in mid throw and their voices tapered off like a toy with dying batteries.

"Wait," Jason said, looking seriously self-conscious, and he leaned to look around Percy. "Where's Annabeth?"

"She's still asleep." Percy rubbed his eyes. "Time zones, remember?"

"This is awkward," mumbled Piper to Grover, who was pretending like he hadn't just been playing the birthday song on his reed pipes.

Half a dozen of the people on the other end of the IM shifted uncomfortably, while the other half—including Connor and Travis Stoll, Tyson, and a few Camp counselors were still high-fiving and blowing into their party horns.

"We can, uh… We can come back later," Jason suggested. He brushed some confetti off his shoulder. "Sorry we woke you."

"It's fine. I needed to be up anyways."

"Brother!" Tyson the cyclops stopped laughing long enough to squeeze up in front of his friends, trying to reach his hands into the IM mist. He was a foot taller than he'd been when he was first introduced, which made him barreling towards Percy more frightening than it would've normally been. "You look good!"

"You look good, too, big guy," Percy responded, and it was true; all the years his half-brother had been spending at the underwater forge gave him more of a warrior-cyclop's body than an overgrown middle-schooler with chromosomal issues. "How is everything at Dad's palace?"

"Very good. Daddy knows that you're having a baby."

"Not me," he reminded Tyson, not for the first time. "I'm not having a baby. Annabeth is."

"Right," Tyson nodded, as if he didn't catch his mistake, and said again, "Daddy knows."

"The whole demigod _world_ knows, it seems." Grover laughed a quiet, bleating laugh and tugged at his never-changing goatee. "Most of the current campers haven't ever even met you or Annabeth, yet you're all they seem to talk about: the famous Annabeth and Percy Jackson and the mini Jackson."

"'Mini Jackson'?" Percy asked, feeling his nose wrinkle.

"I-I don't like that term, either," Grover said quickly, "It's weird."

"What's _really_ weird," butted in one of the Stoll brothers, wearing three party hats—one over each ear and one on the top of his head, "is how Clarisse ever managed to shove your head in the toilets."

Clarisse, who'd obviously refused a hat, scoffed. "It's gotten too big lately, with all this hero talk."

Although he inwardly wondered how anyone managed to convince the daughter of Ares to be there, Percy didn't mention it. He opened his mouth to ask about Chiron when a clamor of doorknobs from down the hall interrupted him.

"Oh, I think Annabeth's awake," he said quickly. "Maybe she'll—"

There was a loud _bang_ like the toilet lid flying open and the unpleasant sound of sickness following shortly after.

"I've got to go. You can try to call later if you want." Without waiting for a response, Percy turned the IM off and ran down the hall to the bathroom.

Percy skidded to a stop in front of the bathroom door and opened it uncertainly. "…Annabeth?"

Annabeth was on her knees, hunched over the toilet. "I'm fine," she insisted in an embarrassed, sore-throated tone. "You should leave. You don't want to see—" Her body convulsed in pain and she retched again into the tank.

There was nothing particularly terrible about the situation, Percy thought. He didn't like the idea of leaving her alone to be sick, but even if he considered it, it wasn't like he hadn't seen _worse _things. Before they ever started dating, she'd gotten sick over at his house and had actually vomited _on_ him before.

"Easy," Percy said, sitting on the rim of the bathtub and reaching over to hold Annabeth's bedhead hair out of her face as she spat.

"You know," Annabeth panted, slumping against her husband's leg in exhaustion, "I always kind of thought that movies and books really exaggerated morning sickness, but this is _terrible._ It's not as bad as Tartarus, but then again, nothing should ever be that bad." She stifled a sickly burp. "It still feels like I'm dying. What is this—the fourth day in a row?"

"Fifth," Percy responded unhelpfully, offering her a tissue. "It'll pass soon."

"Easy for you to say." Her face contorted in disgust as she flushed the toilet and heaved herself up onto the rim of the tub next to Percy. "Guys don't have to put up with morning sickness or cramping."

"I thank the gods for that every day." Although Percy had a good laugh at that, it only earned him a little scowl from Annabeth. He put his arm around her. "So, can you do me a favor?"

Annabeth's eyebrows rose so far into her hairline they almost disappeared in what was the most impressive incredulous look she'd ever given. "I guess it depends," she answered, standing up and hobbling over to the sink to rinse her mouth. "I'm really not in the mood for nude modeling, though."

"Are you kidding?" Percy laughed. "I can't paint. Anyways, I was wondering if you could go back to bed and pretend to be asleep while I made breakfast."

Annabeth looked at him through the mirror and frowned through a mouthful of toothpaste. "…Why?"

"Don't tell me you forgot what today is."

Her eyebrows furrowed, and she stared into the sink for a second before she remembered. "Oh." Even through her attempt at a straight face, Annabeth's smile shone past her _Crest_ mustache. "Oh, yeah. Well, I'm up now. It'd be kind of pointless…"

"Of course it wouldn't. You still haven't had breakfast, have you?"

"…You know I haven't."

"Then get that butt of yours back into bed."

"That's a very nice thought," Annabeth said, turning the sink off, "but honestly I shouldn't eat until later today. I would probably just throw anything you make for me up."

"Then what am I supposed to do for you on the morning of your birthday?" Percy opened the door for her and helped her out. "Breakfast in bed is a tradition."

"Let me go lie down for another hour or two, and maybe you can think about making me _lunch_ in bed."

Percy wanted to complain, but he learned better than that a long time ago. He did not argue with the queen, especially on her birthday, _especially_ when she had all sorts of pregnant hormones raging through her body. They had already accepted the fact that she was definitely not one of those women whose bodies took pregnancy with a grain of salt until a couple months before the birth. Every cell inside of her was against her happiness and compassion, or so she said.

"You can come with me if you want," Annabeth said after a few seconds of Percy's silence. Her eyes glinted. "Don't worry; I brushed my teeth." She didn't wait for a response before shuffling back to their bedroom and crawling ungracefully under the covers.

Although Percy never really held his breath on the manner, he guessed that he wasn't invited to bed to do anything except possibly cuddle. With those kinds of unpredictable hormones in her body, Annabeth would probably change her mood before they even did anything and kick him out of bed. Even so, it was obvious she didn't want anything from him right then because she was still wearing her little owl-printed socks and hugging a pillow to her chest.

"I haven't been replaced have I?" Percy joked, tugging the pillow from her arms and wrapping his own around her waist.

"Gods," Annabeth replied, squirming sleepily in his embrace. "I don't know whether I hate or love you touching me right now."

She'd only gotten like that a few times before, and the last time ended up with him sleeping on the floor all night. Some part of him felt like girls shouldn't get _that_ crazy with hormones so early in, but what did he know? He was only on page 4 of one of the books they'd bought. Maybe it was just her.

"Your feet are cold." Annabeth sat up and tucked a bit of the blanket between her feet and Percy's, and then she lay back down. "Morning sickness isn't contagious, moron. You can still kiss me."

_So demanding_, thought Percy teasingly, but he was only grateful she didn't want to push him out of the bed. However, they only kissed for a few minutes before Annabeth got tired and fell asleep with her face pressed against his shoulder.

A few minutes after Annabeth fell asleep, it came to Percy's attention that he had ADHD and simply _couldn't_ just lay there with his own thoughts any longer. He got up without disrupting the snoring girl beside him and left to go back into the kitchen.

Percy loved Annabeth with all his heart, and he was more than excited for her to be pregnant, but it was hard for the both of them, even if they'd only known for a month.

The first week after the news was broken, it seemed as though Annabeth was, too. She had only two emotions: resignation and panic. One moment she would be draped over the side of the couch, making obvious attempts to comfort herself, and the next, she would be locked inside the bathroom and all Percy would hear from behind the door was splashes of water and sobs of, "I can't do this, I can't…"

It got better after a week, but Annabeth more or less accepted her pregnancy. She made her best efforts to not be negative or avoid the subject of babies any time it came up, and Percy appreciated it. Nevertheless, he was always cautious about what he said, because he knew that it would take longer than just a month to get to the level of talking about taboo things like names and nurseries.

Percy didn't mind much, though. He was just happy his future with Annabeth was finally starting. He was going to be the best. dad. ever. There was even a mental list he had made of all the things he would do better than his own dad (which was a very, very long list). No matter if it was a boy or a girl, he made a vow to all the gods to be there for it no matter what happened. They were going to spend time doing things together, even if he didn't feel like doing them. Although he was never going to admit it to Annabeth, some part of him wished that it was a girl so he could sit in her room in a circle of her stuffed animals drinking juice from teacups and trying to remember to keep his pinky up.

_Gods_, Percy thought, rubbing his face. _What have I become_?

It was right before noon when there was any sign of life from the bedroom where Annabeth had been sleeping. Percy was folding linin on the couch when he heard a noise like a muted cheer from the room, but decided to investigate only after he figured out how to fold that gods-forsaken fitted sheet. When he finally managed, though, Annabeth was already leaving the bedroom.

"Happy noon," Percy said cheerily, setting a towel on a stack next to him. "You look gorgeous."

Annabeth, whose hair was an afro and complexion was a pasty green, squinted attractively at him. "It smells like pie in here," was her response.

"Oh, yeah!" Percy fished the last sock out of the laundry basket. "You said the other day you didn't want cake or a party, so I decided on a pie for our picnic later. It took me so long to make sense of the recipe I only just got it in the oven like fifteen minutes ago."

The little twinkle returned to Annabeth's eye, and she smoothed her hair away from her face involuntarily. "We're going on a picnic later?"

"Of course. As soon as the pie cools and I call a repairman."

"Oh, gods. What happened this time?"

"I may have broken our dryer, but," Percy added before he was yelled at, "I put the fire out within seconds so maybe it's not too far gone."

"…You set the dryer on fire?"

"It was totally an accident. I was shocked you didn't wake up, actually. The fire alarm was pretty loud."

For some reason, Annabeth restrained saying anything more, and she half-turned in the direction of the bathroom. "No, I…I woke up from a nightmare," she said, almost to herself. "I was about to get up when Camp IMed to wish me a happy birthday. I forgot how overbearing they can be when all in the same place together, especially when you've just woken up."

Percy, while on the way past to stuff the laundry in the linin closet, paused to give Annabeth a kiss on the forehead. "Sorry I wasn't there when you woke. I do wonder, though, why the IM appeared in the bedroom and didn't go straight through the saltwater fountain like it did earlier."

"I was already up when they called. I don't think Iris likes to interrupt people doing other things when there's a fountain nearby, though," Annabeth shut the bathroom door behind her, but kept talking, "which explains why we don't ever get any IMs while naked in the shower or anything."

Percy tried not to laugh at the mental images.

When Annabeth was out of the bathroom, they worked together on getting their picnic ready. Percy had already dug several snacks from the pantry and put them in a basket, but as his wife so frankly pointed out, they needed real food.

"I don't mean to be sexist at all," Percy said, pulling a bag of Ziplocs from a drawer, "but you're really good at making sandwiches."

Annabeth, who had her hair pulled away from her face in a bandana, glanced over at him with an amused expression. "Just because I put more on a sandwich than just meat and cheese doesn't mean that I'm culinarily talented. "

"You make a pretty mean lasagna, too." When his wife didn't answer, Percy asked, "Speaking of food, how are you feeling? Any better?"

"Yeah, I guess. Pass me that plate over there, will you?"

Something in her tone made Percy suspicious, but he knew she wouldn't eat anything she thought she couldn't keep down, so he dropped the subject.

A few minutes later, everything was packed up, and Percy and Annabeth were in the living room pulling on their shoes.

"So where are we going for this picnic?" asked Annabeth as she retied the cords of her cargo pants.

"Somewhere past Temple Hill, hopefully near the lake," Percy answered. "Maybe we can stop and leave food at our parent's alters; it's been a while since we've done that."

"Maybe we can go swimming, too."

_No need to bring swimsuits_, Percy was about to say suggestively, but he caught himself just in time. If he said that, he would probably be pummeled. Instead, he cleared his throat and stood. "I'm going to go put mine on, then."

He tried to be swift in exchanging boxers for swim trunks underneath his jeans, but when he left the bedroom, Annabeth was already changed.

"About time," she joked, zipping up a jacket over a bikini top. "You take ages getting dressed."

"I was in there for, like, thirty seconds," Percy protested, picking up their picnic basket from the couch. "You're just extraordinarily impatient."

A challenging expression narrowed Annabeth's eyes. "If you're going to call me any names on my birthday, it had better be 'Your Highness.'"

Percy opened their apartment door and bowed for her to go before him.

"That's what I thought." However, Annabeth wasn't as annoyed as she let on, because on her way past him, she hooked her finger into the collar of his T-shirt and kissed him.

It was a long walk from the apartment to the picnic spot. The shortest route would've been straight south, but they would've had to sprout wings and fly across the lake, and that wasn't happening. Instead, they walked west across New Rome hand-in-hand, until they got to the Pomerian Line.

"Jackson," sniffed Terminus, scrunching his marble-carved eyebrows. "I hope you're not leaving to go wreak more havoc, are you?"

"Absolutely not," Percy said. "I'm clean-cut. A new man. No more destruction for me." When he saw the skeptical look Annabeth gave him, he added, "Most of the time."

"Yes, of course." If the statue had any visible pupils, he would've been rolling them. "Do you want your pen back?"

"Nah. You can hold onto it. We should be going, though." Percy stepped through the line. "Catch you later, Terminus."

To their back, the statue said, "I'll be keeping an eye on you, Jackson."

The sun was hot, but a nice summer wind was blowing across the fields and making the hike less than miserable. They followed the Little Tiber around the southern edge of New Rome, wading through shin-high grass and wildflowers for half a mile.

Every five minutes or so, Percy would pause and ask Annabeth how she was holding up. Each time, Annabeth would hit him in the arm and tell him she wasn't dying, and then they would move on.

It took them a while, but finally they arrived at the base of Temple Hill, close to the mouth of the Little Tiber. Instead of going up the path, they cut up the other side and took a minute to lay a portion of their picnic on the alters to Neptune and Minerva out of respect.

"Technically, they aren't actually our parents," Percy pointed out on the way back down.

"Yes, technically, but we're claiming our heritage by living here in New Rome, so we have to show respect."

"I know, I was just saying…"

Almost directly between the lake and Temple Hill was the perfect picnic spot. It was not quite as tall as Temple Hill, but it was just as flat and offered an amazing view.

"We should come here more often," Annabeth said quietly, gazing out over the lake and New Rome before turning back to help spread the blanket out. "It's beautiful."

"Yes, it is," Percy agreed, but he wasn't looking at the lake.

Annabeth pretended not to notice as she reached into the basket to pull out all the food they brought. As she brought out the triangles of sandwiches she made, Percy poured _muslum_ into two plastic glasses. Neither of them were of legal drinking age, but those rules didn't really apply to where they were living. They didn't drink often, anyways; nearly all of the alcoholic beverages offered in New Rome were disgusting.

"Annabeth." Percy handed a glass to her and held his own up. "To living to see your twentieth birthday."

"I can toast to that." Annabeth laughed and touched her glass to his. "If you'd told me when I was twelve I would live this long I would've laughed."

"You probably would've laughed at a lot of things in your life today."

"Yeah, like being married to you. Eight years ago I was fully prepared to put you out of your misery at any given moment." She took a sip of the drink and pressed her lips together sweetly. "Despite everything terrible that's happened in our lives, I'd like to believe the Fates favor us. These days, at least."

Percy laughed. "Don't jinx it, now," he said, handing her a sandwich. "I'm enjoying this."

"Me, too, Seaweed Brain."

For a long while, Percy and Annabeth sat there on their checkered picnic blanket, feasting on sandwiches, fruit, and delicious pie while seagulls called around them. Thankfully, Annabeth's complexion returned to normal and the last of her sickness ebbed away.

Even from their spot far away from any people, sounds of the city were caught on the wind and carried over. They heard children calling to one another, merriment and bells of lakeside shops. Every push of the breeze sent the grass around them hissing gently and stirred the smell of wildflowers.

It was too perfect; Percy never imagined deserving something like that. He'd lived in New York his whole life, fighting monsters and trying to survive. He never once thought he would end up having a picnic in California in a valley of happiness. It was unheard of.

Annabeth stretched her legs over Percy's as they talked. They poured themselves more _muslum_ and laughed over their plastic glasses. Slowly, as they talked, the wine snuck into Percy's head. He would just watch Annabeth as she talked, mesmerized. Her lips were stained purple from the blueberry pie, and after a while, Percy just couldn't take it anymore. Right in the middle of Annabeth's sentence, he leaned over and kissed her.

Just as he thought, it tasted like blueberries and sugar.

"You interrupted me," Annabeth slurred against his mouth, almost involuntarily shutting her eyes.

"I'm not sorry," Percy replied. He put one of his hands behind her head and twisted to press her closer.

After a second more of trying to protest weakly, Annabeth finally gave in and a soft noise escaped her throat as she surrendered. Percy savored the taste of honeyed wine and berries, and he parted his lips against hers to breathe her in, to absorb her and get lost in her touch. He couldn't think of anything else to do; he couldn't think _at all_.

Both of Annabeth's knees were bent on either side of Percy's lap, and he could feel every inch of her. Her arms were around his neck, her chest was pressed against his, her hands tangled in his hair. Her heartbeat was so strong that Percy could feel it through her skin.

He broke away after a time, skimming his nose along her jawline and fighting the stars behind his eyelids from oxygen deprival.

"Mm," Percy mumbled against Annabeth's collarbone, attempting to form words from his stupor. "Do you want to go swimming?"

Annabeth, who was out of breath, pulled back to look at him. Her face was bright red, and her eyes were slightly less focused than they normally were. She giggled—and she _never_ giggled. "Percy."

"Yeah?" he said, lacing his fingers behind her back.

"I'm keeping my swimsuit on, okay?"

"Fine."

She kissed him one more time. "Let's go, then."

It took a minute for them to untangle from one another.

"Oh man," Annabeth snorted, pulling herself to her knees with difficulty. "I think I had too much of that wine_._ I'm started to feel it."

A laugh tried to burst out of Percy, but he forced his mouth closed so it came out as a snort. "Me, too. We would be in serious trouble if monsters attack—weaponless _and_ buzzed. Maybe we could beat them off with our shoes…"

"I'm sure we'll be fine."

They slid down the side of their little hill to the lakeside, where a small, sandy beach awaited. Percy knew he should probably be polite and not watch Annabeth as she shucked off her jacket and pants, but he couldn't force himself to look away.

"I can feel you staring," Annabeth said with her back to him.

Percy didn't say anything as he watched her tug out her hair tie and her blond hair tumbled down her back. There, with her hair platinum from the sun and tanned skin glowing in the bright afternoon light, she looked like she came straight from Sports Illustrated.

Percy said a silent _thank -you_ to the gods and followed his wife into the water.

They had good fun splashing around in the water like they were kids again. The lightness of his head made Percy's will-power and discretion dwindle to almost nothing, though. Every now and then, he would feel his brain stop working, and it took extreme concentration to stop staring at Annabeth and act like nothing had just happened.

For a good hour, they swam around with one another, up until Annabeth froze.

"What's that face for?" Percy asked, laughing at her, and he flicked water in her direction.

Annabeth shifted. "…There's something between my toes, and I think it's alive."

"Is it a fish?" To answer his own question, Percy sank underwater and squinted at the distorted shapes of Annabeth's feet. A few seconds later, he resurfaced. "I don't want to alarm you," he started, "but apparently there are leeches in this side of the lake."

"Leeches?" Although she wasn't like normal girls who would run from the water screaming, Annabeth followed her husband slowly out of the lake until they were standing on the shore, staring down at their legs.

Sure enough, dozens of the slimy suckers were attached all over their legs. One, several inches long, was stuck between two of Annabeth's toes.

A disgusted whimper passed her lips. "I think I might be sick."

"No, don't. Here." In an effort to staunch Annabeth's queasiness, Percy knelt down and gingerly began plucking the leeches off, leaving little dots of blood wherever one was. When he was done, he plucked all them off himself.

"I guess that means we won't be swimming anymore." Annabeth sighed, reaching for the towel they'd set on the beach for when they were done.

As she moved, Percy watched.

"You know, you're about the least-subtle person I have ever known," Annabeth said, rubbing her hair down.

"It's just…" Percy motioned idly to her stomach, but wouldn't meet her eyes because he _was_ a little embarrassed. "I don't mean to stare; you're just unbelievably beautiful."

Pink-faced, Annabeth glanced down at herself, and put both hands to her abdomen. "…You _can_ kind of tell, can't you?"

Percy nodded. He didn't want to continually bring it up, especially on her birthday, but something about it was so striking and pure. Maybe normal guys don't have such thoughts, but Percy couldn't help but feel as though there were three of them there, like it was their first family outing.

"That's your 'I'm thinking something ridiculously cheesy' face," Annabeth said, giving Percy their towel.

"That's because I am." Though he didn't give her any details, he saw on Annabeth's face that she probably understood what he was imagining. He dried himself and took her hand to go back up the hill.

Within minutes of relaxing back on the picnic blanket, the sun dried them out the rest of the way. Percy and Annabeth were laying side-by-side, their heads touching and ankles crossed, staring up at the clouds passing by.

"Hey, Perce?" Annabeth turned her head to look over at her husband. When he looked over at her, too, she grinned. "Thanks for such an amazing birthday."

"It's not over yet." Percy sat up.

He'd been waiting for that moment for days.

Annabeth watched curiously as Percy pulled the lining of the basket up, revealing a hidden pocket. When he drew his hand out, an envelope with a little green ribbon on it was pinched between his fingers.

"Happy birthday," he said playfully, handing her the envelope.

Eyebrows rose suspiciously, Annabeth took the package and tugged out the contents. Her eyes flit back and forth as she read the piece of paper, widening a fraction at the end. Without looking up, she set the paper down and read the two smaller slips of paper.

"Perce…" she said quietly in awe, finally looking up and meeting his eyes. "_Thank you_. I don't want to know how much this took you."

Pride lifted Percy's chest. "Just some research. It's not quite a straight shot, but a crooked train ride cross-country back to New York for two weeks ought to be fun, right?"

Annabeth's mouth puckered in an effort not to smile even wider. "Did you purposefully include all these stops? It says here we're first taking an unusual detour nearly two hundred miles south before heading east."

Percy shrugged.

"That's where the San Simeon is, one of the biggest, most architecturally influential modern-day castles in North America. It's as Roman as an American building can get, and one of my favorites."

"Mmhm." Percy propped his head up with a hand and tried not to let his eyes glaze over.

"Most of the stops after that are in the east," Annabeth continuing in the same accusatory tone, reading from the page, "Like in Chicago, where you _know_ another two of my favorite pieces of architecture are. And Virginia, where the University of Virginia, the most architecturally famous university in America, is. Oh, look, and we're going through Washington D.C. to see the Capitol Building. Then up through Bear Run, Pennsylvania, where Fallingwater is."

Annabeth's grey slid up from the ticket she was reading to lock onto her husband's eyes. "Try telling me those are all coincidences."

Having a hard time fighting maniacal laughter in, Percy just shrugged his shoulders again. "I was going to wait until you were done to tell you that, _duh_. I know your favorite pieces of architecture. If we were going to go across the country, we might as well stop and sight-see on the way. Here." He fished one of those cheap disposable cameras from the hidden picnic basket pocket and tossed it to her.

Annabeth looked incredibly touched. "You can't stand architecture…" she said weakly.

"But you love it, so I don't mind. It could be fun."

She took a deep breath, blinking furiously, and she dropped her hands to her lap. "Thank you, Percy. Really. I probably won't be able to give _you_ quite as amazing a gift on _your _birthday, you realize. I can't top this."

"It doesn't matter." Percy put his arm around Annabeth and kissed her cheek. His nose filled with the smell of her shampoo. "You're the best gift I could ever have."

"Want some wine with that cheese?" However joking her tone was, her eyes betrayed how moved she was, shining brighter than a full moon.

Percy loved getting that reaction out of her.

He leaned back, letting her prop her head up on his shoulder as they looked up at the sky. It was beginning to darken as the sun went down, not touching the horizon yet but still turning the world periwinkle with dusk.

"Maybe we should start heading back," Percy suggested absentmindedly, watching one of the clouds change shape.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right."

Reluctantly, they both got up and put their clothes back on over their swimsuits. After replacing the leftovers into the picnic basket, they folded the blanket and towel and headed out again.

When they passed Terminus, the statue just nodded in boredom as they passed.

The city was rocking in the twilight, its roar turned into a murmur as the people hurried back home for the night. Almost every shop they passed was either closed or closing, and the only remaining laughter was from behind closed windows as children were tucked into bed.

Percy and Annabeth made it to their apartment just before the sun hit the horizon. Percy opened the door for his wife silently, and when they were back inside they took a minute to put all the foodstuffs back into the kitchen.

"Hey, Percy, I just thought of something," Annabeth said as they left the kitchen, stretching her arms above her head.

"What is that?"

"You got time off work for this trip, right? That's two weeks you would be gone."

"Of course I got time off. Next week, is it?" Percy stuck his tongue out at her as they went into their bedroom. "Do you have college?"

"I finished the semester last week, remember?" As usual, Annabeth didn't seem too bothered by her husband's idiocy. "I don't think I'm going to start my last semester until next year, though. I shouldn't bring a newborn to school."

At the mention of their kid, Percy's chest got all fuzzy and warm. He changed into pajama pants and stretched out on his side next to Annabeth, reaching an arm out to put around her waist snugly.

"Thanks for the picnic, Percy," Annabeth said sleepily, resting her cheek on the top of his head. "It was fun."

"Any time. I'm glad you're feeling better."

They settled down together, pulling the blankets up to their chins.

"Love you, Perce."

"I love you, too, Annabeth. Sweet dreams."

However, Annabeth was already asleep. Percy smiled to himself and closed his own eyes, basking in the contentment of his own life until he drifted away.

**oOo**

_Thanks for reading! The next chapter might take a bit, but no worries. I think it's going to be during _Percy's_ birthday. What should they do? What do yall think the chapter should be about?_

_P.S: _Muslum_ is a drink the middle-and-upper classes of ancient Rome drank. It was a mixture of finely aged wine with honey and some other spices and junk. Yummy yum yum. It's not super-duper alcoholic either._

_P.P.S: I know people shouldn't drink when they're pregnant. That'll be addressed next chapter, and when it's early-ish in the pregnancy and not a whole lot, you know..._


End file.
